| The Pussywillows | |
| Origin: | New York City, United States |
| Genre: | Pop |
| Years Active: | circa 1980s - 1990s |
| Label: | Telstar Records |
| Associated Acts: | Raunch Hands Ronnie Spector |
| Past Members: | Elinor Blake Lisa Dembling Lisa Jenio Sheryl Farber |
The Pussywillows were a group that featured Elinor Blake, Lisa Dembling and Lisa Jenio. Their recordings have appeared on the Kill the Moonlight soundtrack, and the Rutles Highway Revisited album.
The Pussywillows were originally from New York City. It consisted of three friends—Elinor Blake, Lisa Dembling and Lisa Jenio—who liked singing together girl-group style.[1] [2] With a singing style like that of 1960s groups such as The Shangri-Las and The Ronettes, they would sing on stage wearing thrift-store dresses.[3] The group originally had some help in its formation by Mike Chandler of the group Raunch Hands. Through Todd Abramson of the Telstar label they got some gigs, which led to them recording Spring Fever!, released on Telstar.[4] [5] The tracks on the album were, "The Boat That I Row", "Come On Now", "Don't Say He's Gone", "Turn Her Down", "Everyone Will Know", "My Baby Looks But He Don't Touch" and "Baby Baby (I Still Love You)".[6] With "The Boat That I Row", the song was written by Neil Diamond and became a hit for Lulu.[7] [8] Another song they covered was "Turn Her Down". It was recorded by girl group The Cupons in the 1960s and released on the Impact label.[9] [10] [11]
The group also did some recordings with Raunch Hands.[12] A big fan of the group was Ronnie Spector who would one day have them backing her on a set of recordings.[13] [14]
In December 1990, they played at the Funhouse in Bethlehem covering songs like Neil Diamond's "The Boat That I Row" and "My Baby Looks But He Don't Touch".[15] In January 1991 with their backing band, which included guitarist Ward Dotson on guitar, Will Rigby on drums and Spike Priggen on bass, they played at the CBGB club in Bleecker Street, Manhattan.[16]
Blake moved to LA and by 1991 was using the name April March.[17] [18] Lisa Jenio became a member of and bass player for Candypants and The Liquor Giants.[19]
The Pussywillows contributed background vocals to Ronnie Spector's 2003 album Something's Gonna Happen.[20] They sang on "Communication", "For His Love", "Something's Gonna Happen" and "Whenever You're On My Mind" which were all Marshall Crenshaw compositions.[21]
| Title | Release info | Year | Song title | Notes # |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Every Band Has a Shonen Knife Who Loves Them | Gasatanka Records / Positive Music 6036 | 1990 | "Twist Barbie" | [26] [27] |
| Rutles Highway Revisited (A Tribute To The Rutles) | Shimmy Disc shimmy-041 | 1990 | "Hold My Hand" | [28] |
| Attack Of The Terrible Boots | Mint Sound MSRCD4 | 1997 | "Turn Her Down" | [29] |
| Kill the Moonlight | Sympathy For The Record Industry 482 | 1997 | "Vindaloo" | CD[30] [31] |